Breaking the fall
by false
Summary: When Zero recieves a mysterious letter from his long dead lover, he goes to Silent Hill in search of the truth. The truth may find Zero first however... Rated for violent content, and rating may be subject to change. Please read and review.
1. Return to Sender

Te fact that I'm driving my childhood heroes straight into hell is proof that I'm crazy. Don't worry though, they'll return to the real world only a little worse for wear. I do not own MegaMan X or Silent Hill. They are owned, respectively, by Capcom and Konami. I have not played any of the Silent Hill games, but by reading online guides, plot analysis, finding maps, and reading Fanfiction I think I have a half baked idea of what Silent Hill is like. I know that in reality I have no idea what its like however. To understand something, one must experience it first hand. Unfortunately, as much as I would like to experience Silent Hill for myself, I cannot. I don't own the music that I've chosen for the opening and closing.

Opening: Polaris, by Jimmy Eat World

* * *

CH_a_**P**teR **o**N**E**; _return to sender_

He was in the hall again. The blood splattered hall that did nothing to quell his foreboding. His feet moved without permission, dragging him toward the wooden stair case and eventually down them. He knew what was going to happen, and he knew there wasn't a thing he could do to stop it. He stepped into the basement as the entire house caught on fire, sparked by his entrance to the room. Iris was there, being held by something evil that was shaped like him. She called out his name and reached for his hand, begging for rescue, but the green hued saber in the shadow's hand silenced her. Irises head slowly rolled off of her destroyed body, bouncing once on the hard cement floor. Her cold, lifeless eyes seemed to scream out to him as the shadow laughed. His temper flared, and he dashed toward the shadow to take his revenge. Unfortunately, that's when the building above collapsed and crushed him…

"Hey Zero, snap out of it. The briefings started."

The crimson hunter slowly opened his eyes. Beside him, MegaMan X and Axl were trying to quietly wake him as their assignments were handed out. Zero quickly snapped to attention as his name was called out.

"Maverick Hunter Zero!"

"Sir?"

"You've got the week off, as do Hunters MegaMan X, Axl, Dash Hendrix, Issen Kaze…" The Spotter in charge continued to rattle off the names of off duty hunters. Zero began to ignore her and started to think about his vacation time. Axl smiled at the announcement of his time off. He'd been planning on taking a small road trip via Ride Chaser, and this day seemed like as good as any. X simply sighed. As much as he disliked fighting, it was better than doing nothing while Mavericks were still trying to maim the innocent people of the world. As the briefing finished, Zero trudged back to his quarters in search of rest. As he entered the room, he reflexively reached out to flip the light switch on. He froze when he saw Iris's coolant coated body lying in his capsule.

"Oh God…" He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the horrid sight. It followed into his mind however, showing itself over and over in a cruel slide show.

"Zero? What's wrong Zero?" X nudged him gently, causing the hunter to quickly turn around out of shock. He let out a startled cry as he fell backwards and accidentally flicked the light switch on. X was instantly by his friend's side, trying to help him to his feet. "Zero! You okay?"

The reploid shook his head. "No X, I'm not…" He looked over to his capsule. The body was gone.

"Do… you wanna talk about it?"

"For the billionth time, no X. It's nothing."

The blue clad hunter shook his head. "Zero, whatever it is, it's driving you insane. You can't sleep, you hardly eat, and everyone is starting to notice how you nod off in the middle of missions. You're putting yourself at risk, and I don't like it! Zero, come on. I'm your best friend! You can tell me…"

Zero sighed in defeat. X wouldn't let up until he told him anyway, so he might as well get it over and done with now. "Fine. Every time I go to sleep, I see this blood covered hallway. I follow it to the end and the entire place goes up in flames as I go down a set of stairs. When I get all the way down, something that looks like me is holding Iris. She begs me to help her and the thing cuts her head off. That's it, okay? You happy now?!"

X lowered his head. After the crimson hunter had returned from the grave for the second time, a few of his memories had been a bit scrambled. He had hoped that Zero had forgotten the Repliforce incident, but fate wasn't that kind. "Zero… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have…"

"Ah, its okay X. I know everyone is worried about me, but it'll go away in time. I'm sure of it."

X smiled slightly. "Yeah, but still… Iris was the one thing that you had besides the Maverick Hunters. When she died… I was kinda scared that you would quit." He laughed, thinking back on his over reactions to Zero's depressed behavior. "But that's not the Zero I know. My only concern is, why now? You could have had these dreams of yours earlier on, like in the last three uprisings…"

"Yeah, that's got me bothered too X. Ah, whatever. I'll take a nap before I think about it anymore."

X grimaced at that. "You sure you'll be okay? I mean, you might have that nightmare again."

Zero ignored X's facial expression and walked over to his personal capsule. "Thanks X, but even if I do, I'll just…" It was then that Zero noticed the envelope placed inside of his capsule. "Oh great. X, come check this out. Another fan letter from who knows where."

"What? Another one already? Jeez, you're more popular than I am!" X slowly shook his head in dismay. "It's got to be the hair, Zero. You need to cut that pony tail off if you want them to leave you alone."

Zero mocked shock and clutched the blonde length of hair. "There's no way in hell that I'd ever cut it! Guess I'll just have to suffer the consequences." With a smirk, he released his pony tail and punched the open button on his capsule. The slight hiss of pressurized gasses being expelled from it accompanied the rising fiberglass cover. Still smirking, he picked up the envelope. "Shall we see who wrote me this time?"

"Sure. Maybe it's that hunter from the 7th unit again. Remember her last letter?"

Zero laughed heartily. "Oh yeah! The one where she called us soul mates, and told me that we should meet at Konami Burger in the dead of night, slip away and make out passionately until the break of dawn?"

"Yup! She should have actually written your name in the letter. I still can't believe Douglass fell for that and went out there to meet her!"

There was a moment of silence before the two were overtaken by hysterics. They were still doubled over in laughter when Axl entered the room. He simply stared at the two friends as they tried and failed to calm themselves.

"Hey you two, what's so funny?"

After a moment of biting his tongue, Zero found that he was able to speak again. "Hey Axl… We were just remembering that last fan letter I got."

"Oh yeah! That was awesome. We should really do that more often!" The youthful hunter laughed shortly before noticing the envelope in Zero's hand. "I take it you've got another one?"

"Yeah, and I was just about to open it too."

"Well, open it already!"

Axl came in closer to inspect the white envelope, as did X. Out of curiosity Zero turned it over in his hands to check if there was a return address on the back. To his surprise, there were words in blood red ink on the back instead of the usual blank white.

"Return to sender? What the heck is that supposed to mean?"

X smiled and shrugged his blue padded shoulders. "Maybe whoever left it in your capsule wants it returned by you in person."

"Maybe." Zero shrugged as well and flipped the envelope over. Inserting a finger into the tab, he quickly ripped through the glue that sealed it closed and pulled out the letter. As he unfolded the letter, a flower fell out that X stooped to pick up.

"The heck? It's a dried Iris…"

Axl and Zero gave him a questioning look. "A dried Iris?"

"Yeah. I spent a little time learning about plant life when I was first activated. Flowers can be dried out for a number of uses. Girls mostly use dried flowers for perfume and stuff like that."

"Oh. Okay…" Axl scratched the back of his helmet, surprised that X knew stuff like that. "Anyway, what does the letter say Zero?"

Clearing his throat, Zero began reading the letter aloud. "Dear Zero, -well, that throws fooling Douglass again out the window- I've missed you? That's a little different. Normally they start professing love in the first sentence."

"Maybe it's a Reploid we've rescued in the past?" X nodded, urging Zero to continue.

"Yeah, you're probably right." He returned his attention to the letter. "Ever since you left me, I've been waiting for you at Silent Hill. It's lonely here, but everyone is really nice to me since I'm new. Would you come and visit me? I know it's out of the blue, but I feel like I need to see you. Everyone here would love to meet you after everything I've told them. Bring X if you can, because I'm sure they'd like him to come too. Love…"

Zero stopped in mid-sentence. The 'color' drained from his face as he partially crushed the letter in his hand and began to shake violently.

"Zero?! What's wrong? Oh crap!" X lunged to catch the red armored hero as he shut down from shock. The letter slowly drifted to the floor as X and Axl tried to revive their friend. At the very bottom of the letter, the name Iris resided.

* * *

When Zero woke up, he was in the repair bay under the watchful eye of Life Saver.

"Ugh…" He rolled his head to the right to get the lights out of his eyes as they recalibrated themselves. Slowly, he brought himself up into a sitting position as he took in his surroundings.

"Welcome back to the conscious world Zero." Life Saver smiled happily as he approached the dazed Reploid. "You gonna to live?"

"Shouldn't you know Life Saver?" Zero bit out the physician's name with a note of sarcasm in his voice. He heaved a sigh before truly answering him. "Yeah, I'll live. Where's X?"

"He's in the command center with Axl and Alia, trying to analyze that letter you were reading when you shut down."

"Thanks. I'll see you later."

Before the good doctor could protest, Zero dashed out of the room and headed for the elevator. He quickly pushed the button labeled 'CC' and waited for the lift to start moving. When it did, he quickly shut his eyes as his internal systems fully recalibrated themselves. When he opened them, he wished he hadn't. The elevator was suddenly drenched with a red liquid. Zero had a pretty good idea what it was, though he hoped it wasn't. He instantly shut his eyes again, forcing the nightmarish vision away. He opened his eyes again when the elevator reached the appropriate level and dinged as the doors opened. Stepping out into the large command center, he waved to Signas and Alia.

"Zero! It's good to see you up and at 'em again, but shouldn't you be resting?" The reprimand came from Signas, who was sitting at his desk.

"I don't need rest." Zero bit out the words harshly, causing the Hunter General to blanch slightly. "Alia, did you find anything yet?"

Alia looked up from her constant typing. "You mean about the letter? We've confirmed that the hand writing is Iris's by matching it with samples from the reports she submitted while working for the 0th unit's Spotter Division. I've also looked up the town mentioned in the letter, Silent Hill. It's not on any current maps, so I looked it up on some of the older maps from pre-Reploid times. Nothing yet, but I'll keep searching. X and Axl were on their way to grab some coffee for me, so they'll be back in a little bit."

Zero calmed a little and took a seat. "Did you find anything else out about the letter?"

"Um… No, not really. We sent it down to Life Saver for analysis of the ink it used. Still, it's strange that whoever wrote it to you used red ink."

"Yeah…" Zero nodded, letting the silence settle over the room as he thought. 'At least I'm finally getting some information. Still… The writing matched Iris's own? How can that be? Every reploid is given a distinct fingerprint, style of writing, and DNA data so it can't be a copy. Does that mean Iris is alive?! No, it's not possible. I killed her. She died in my arms. I saw the life drain from her eyes! There's no possible way… Could this all have something to do with my dream?' He continued to think as he waited for X and Axl to return. The two entered after a few minutes of waiting and instantly barraged him with questions.

"Hey! Calm down guys, I'm fine!"

"No you're not! You need rest!" X and Axl had shouted the same sentences at exactly the same time, causing them to blink and look at each other. "Who asked you?!"

"Wow. It's scary how you two act so much alike when you think about it."

X roared in disagreement, while Axl just looked confused. The former began to emit a very dangerous feeling aura as he glared daggers into his best friend. "That's ridiculous!"

"Uh, hey guy's?" Alia waved at them from her console, trying to get their attention.

"Well, he acts rashly sometimes like you used to before you matured."

X recoiled in embarrassment. "What?! I've never acted rashly!"

"Oh? How 'bout when you tried to chase down Storm Eagle's flying fortress and got the crap beat out of you by Vile?"

X rapidly opened and closed his mouth, trying to come up with some kind of a response to Zero's example. Unfortunately for X, any comebacks were cut off when Alia finally got their attention by playfully tossing a wad of paper at the blue hunter's head.

"Good. Now that I've got your attention, I've got something on this Silent Hill place." As she spoke, the entire group turned their attention to the big screen monitor where Alia displayed the information. "Evidently, sometime in the later nineteen hundreds, the town of Silent Hill became a ghost town of sorts. The police of Brahms, a nearby town, cut off all access to it after a series of bizarre incidents. No detail is ever really given about what happened, but several tabloid articles claim that the people in the town were abducted by Aliens and mutated into creatures. A few crazy people made it into Silent Hill, only to come out with unbelievable tales of horror or not at all. I've got a list of everyone who went missing if you'd like to hear it."

X shook his head as he turned away from the screen. "No thanks Alia. Do you have its location yet?"

She smiled as X looked at her. "As a matter of fact, I do. It's in North America, the eastern portion of the United States. I'd give you a visual of it, but there's too much electrical interference to pull up anything clear from our satellites."

Axl furrowed his brow. "Electrical interference? Like a lightning storm of some kind?"

"More like a very weak EMP net that covers a wide area. It's messing up our satellites over most of North America, even though it's a relatively small storm. This same storm also makes it almost impossible to safely teleport directly to the city, so the only way to approach it is by Ride Chaser. A few scans revealed that the EMP isn't strong enough to hurt the average Reploid though, so we should be fine."

Signas suddenly stood up. "Hey, who said any of you were going there anyway? For all we know, it could be a trap."

X nodded in agreement. "Signas is right. We have no idea what we're getting ourselves into. There's not enough information to ensure our safety."

Zero was totally against waiting however. He slammed a fist into Alia's console for effect before speaking. "To hell with safety! I want to know who the heck wrote this stupid letter so I can cut their head off and put it on the top of my capsule as a reminder not to screw with my head like this!"

Signas shook his head. "I'm sorry Zero, but I can't let you go there. Just wait until the storm clears up and Alia can check for Mavericks in the general vicinity."

"Wait Signas." Alia suddenly brought up something akin to a weather report that showed a blank representation of North America with a few clouds over it. "From the latest reports, this storm has been going for about a month, and probably won't let up for quite a while. The strange thing is, there haven't been any reports of rain fall since it started. Just lightning and nothing else."

Suddenly, a realization struck Zero. 'A month ago? That's when I started to have that dream…'

Axl frowned. "Something is weird about this whole thing. First a letter from a dead Reploid, then a town that was cut off from the outside world, and now a storm over that same town which hasn't let up for a month but also hasn't dropped any rain."

"It's too weird." Alia agreed. She looked to X, who gave her a questioning glance in return.

Zero shook his head as if to clear away any useless thoughts. "Look, you guy's don't have to come. I planned on going alone anyway."

The room was silent with the exception of the gentle hum of the huge monitors. All eyes were locked on Zero, who gave a half hearted smile.

"What? Someone is after me and me alone. I don't want to endanger you guys."

X sighed. "Your forgetting that the letter also mentioned me, remember? Something about everyone wanting to meet me?"

"Oh. Yeah…" Zero deflated somewhat. "If you want to come, I won't stop you."

"Does that mean I can come?" Axl grinned as he twirled his pistol.

X immediately voiced his disapproval. "No Axl. We need some SA ranked hunters to stay behind and help out."

"X, we've got over fifty SA ranked hunters on standby. Axl, you can do whatever you want." Before Axl could say anything, Zero held up his index finger to silence him. "Within reason of course."

As Axl mocked a pout, Signas spoke once more. "I still haven't given anyone permission to go there."

"Um, sir? They're currently off duty for the next two weeks." Alia smiled sheepishly and blushed before speaking. "And… so am I." She shifted her gaze downward, occasionally glancing at X. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that she wanted to go with him. X didn't notice however.

Signas planted his face in his palms, a sign that he was breaking. "And I suppose you want to used vacation time and a few Ride Chasers to get to Silent Hill."

Zero smiled devilishly. "Only if you'll allow it."

"Yeah right. You'll steal the Ride Chasers and blow the hanger doors off if I don't let you go." Signas laughed humorlessly. He had a terrible feeling about this whole ordeal, but he really had no choice. "Hunters X, Zero, and Axl. You have permission to teleport to the Hunter branch in Nevada and take three Ride Chasers to investigate Silent Hill."

"Thank-you sir." Axl grinned as he and Zero dashed out the door and into the elevator, waiting for X to join them. X, however, was still hesitant.

"Sir, are you sure we're doing the right thing? It could still be a trap, and without the teleportation systems we'd be stranded."

"I know that X. I can't shake the feeling that something's wrong either, but I've got no choice. Zero would go even if I ordered him to stay here, and Axl would be right behind him. You know that. If someone did set a trap for you and Zero, then I hope Axl will be enough back-up for you two."

X sighed heavily. "We'll deal with any complications somehow. We shouldn't be gone for too long if this is just some hoax. See you guys in a few days." X turned to leave, waving over his shoulder as he left.

Alia sighed. He still hadn't noticed that she like him. He hadn't even said goodbye to her personally, and instead he just waved to them. Signas wasn't blind. He knew that she liked X ever since the fifth uprising started, but X was blind to it. For a person that was supposedly the most powerful Reploid in existence, and also the original Reploid to boot, X had his own set of faults including a lack of social knowledge. True, he was one of the most literate Hunters and could probably recite every single work Shakespeare wrote, but he was a klutz at expressing and noticing the feelings of others. It took something drastically out of character to make him notice that something was amiss.

"Alia, go with them."

Alia bolted upright, turning to face her commander. "S-signas?"

"You heard me Alia. I'll probably regret sending you with them, but go. I know you want to follow them, so just go."

"Signas… Uh, thanks, but what about the Hunters? And what am I supposed to do to help them?"

"We've got other spotters Alia, and I don't expect you to do anything. You're supposed to be on vacation, and I know you wanted to go with them so just go before the leave without you!"

"Yes sir." Alia stood up from her seat and saluted him before running for the elevator. She stopped at the door however. "And… thank-you…"

"Your welcome." Signas smiled as she left. "Just come back safely you idiots."

* * *

Alia rushed to catch up with X. The hallways rushed past her as she ran at top speed. It would have been faster to use EAS, but she hadn't been equipped with it. Her template normally came without the Emergency Acceleration System because they worked at desk jobs, so equipping it would not be cost effective. Fortunately, Alia's lack of speed allowed Life Savor to catch up with her.

"Alia!" He hailed her, holding a plastic bag in his hands. "Wait up!"

She quickly turned on her heels and faced him. "I don't have much time, Life. X and Zero are about to take off without me."

"Then I'll make this brief. The letter was written in human and Reploid blood."

"What?! That's just sick!"

Life Saver shook his head. "I know. I found human DNA and the chemical composition of a common coolant used in machines, the life blood of Reploids. There's no mistaking it. Tell Zero to punch out the sick freak that did this for me. Oh, and give the letter to him. Since it says return to sender, it might be important somehow that he brings it with him."

"Okay Life Saver. Thanks!" Alia grabbed the bag that held the letter and ran for the nearest transporter station. Life Saver smiled as he turned around and returned to his lab, whistling on they way.

'Maybe she'll finally be able to tell X that she like him…'

* * *

X straddled his Ride Chaser and started its engine. The roar of its powerful motor filled the hanger's massive void, and was soon joined by Zero and Axl's own Ride Chasers. The desert flats outside of the hanger beckoned them to get moving, and they would happily oblige. X was about to pull his Chaser out of the hanger when he heard his name called.

"Huh?" The blue bomber turned his head toward the source of the voice, which turned out to be Alia. She ran up to him and hunched over instantly, breathing in and out deeply in an attempt to cool her systems off. Her face was flushed as well, as the coolant in her 'veins' rushed about her body. "Alia, are you okay?"

"Yeah… I-I'm fine. Life Saver wants me to give you guys the letter." She held it out for him to accept. Her face slowly returned to its normal color, as did her breathing patterns. "X, that letter was written in blood from both humans and Reploids…"

"Don't tell me we've got a psychopath on our hands…"

"I didn't believe it either when Life Saver told me, but...

"He's too good to mistake it for anything else. Whoever did this… is just as heartless as Sigma! Killing both humans and Reploids just to screw with Zero's head…"

"I know X… and… and that's why I'm coming with you."

"What?!" Zero and Axl yelled the question at the top of their lungs, causing X to fall off his Ride Chaser in surprise.

"X, are you okay?!" Alia rushed around the bike and offered him a hand, which he gratefully accepted.

"Thanks Alia… Are you sure about this? I don't want you to get hurt…"

Alia shook her head. "X, Signas told me to go with you. For what exactly I don't know, but still…"

"If you're sure about it Alia…"

"X, if it makes you feel better, I'll stay near the Ride Chasers and let you guy's handle everything once we get there."

"Well, okay. These bikes are only meant to seat one, so I'll have the mechanics here prep another Ride Chaser." Turning from her, he put a hand up to the side of his mouth to try and amplify his voice. "Hey Frank! We need another Ride Chaser!"

The Reploid mechanic turned his head. "No can do X! Signas said three Ride Chasers, and that's all you're getting!"

"But we just got another person in our group! What are we going to do?"

"Have her ride behind you, dofus!" With that, Frank walked out of the hanger and locked the door behind him.

Alia huffed in annoyance. "What's his problem?"

X laughed. "Oh, we just interrupted his nap earlier."

"Oh, is that all? From the way he acted, it seemed like you had pulled the same stunt on him like you did to Douglass last week!" She giggled, but lowered her gaze slightly when he looked straight at her. "Oh well. I don't really know how to drive a Ride Chaser anyway."

"Um… That's okay. You can ride with anyone you like, right Zero?" X had turned his head toward his comrade's last position, only to find that they had already left. "Guys?"

"Uh… I-it's alright X. I'd prefer to ride with you anyway." She turned her head away to try and hide the blush that now decorated her cheeks.

"Uh, are you sure? I'm not the best of drivers, and I can go pretty fast sometimes. Are you sure you want to ride with me?"

"Yeah. You're the only one I really trust on these things." Alia smiled, tilting her head slightly and winking at him. Her blush was still there, albeit barely.

"Okay then." X mounted the Ride Chaser again and motioned for her to sit behind him. "Just be sure and hold on tight."

Alia slid her legs over the bike, wrapped her arms around X's waist and pulled herself close to his back, causing the mighty blue bomber to turn a shade of red as her chest pushed into him. "Don't worry about me X. I'm a big girl."

'You didn't have to tell me that. I think I already knew it…' With his face still the color of Zero's armor, X gunned the Ride Chaser out of the hanger. He could barely see Axl and Zero in the distance. Catching up would take a lot of speed... "Hang on, Alia!"

Not understanding completely, Alia yelped as the afterburners kicked in. She pulled herself into X's back for the rest of the trip, making him blush even harder.

* * *

closing: Here is gone by the Goo Goo Dolls (Gutterflower album)

Yeah... The first chapter is slow. I'll have the next chapter out in a few days, but that's because I'm already finished with it and half of the third chapter.


	2. No Hope

I still own nothing, because I didn't create it. MegaMan X and all characters associated with it belong to Capcom. The town of Silent Hill, and all things associated with it, belongs to Konami.

* * *

Ch_a_**P**teR **T**w_o_: _No hope…_

The great expanse of fog that enveloped Zero cut off all visibility beyond the range of his headlights. He could see the headlights on X and Axl's Chasers, but the Ride Chasers themselves had disappeared in the blanket of grey. It had been two days since they left the Nevada branch, and in that time they had made it all the way to the east coast, and subsequently into the massive bank of fog that surrounded Silent Hill. The road below them had many potholes from lack of upkeep, which made Zero glad they hadn't taken something with wheels. If they had, the fog would have hidden the deep holes until it was too late to maneuver. The fog wasn't very unnerving to X, Zero and Axl, but Alia was a different story. And from what the Crimson hero could hear, she was quite scared by the lack of visibility.

"Alia, are you okay?" X voice was barely audible over the roar of their Ride Chasers.

"I'm fine X. It's nothing, really…" Alia's voice was even softer than X's, and Zero almost fell off his Ride Chaser trying to hear what she said..

"Then why are you squeezing me like so hard? It's like you're scar-- Oh. Sorry…"

Evidential, X had finally gotten the point of her squeezing him like a plush toy in the arms of an all too loving child. "It's just that the fog is really thick… Who knows what's out there?"

That's when the Ride Chaser beneath Zero started to die out. First the headlights, then the engine that kept the bike moving and afloat. "Holy--!!!" Thinking quickly as the road started to curve into a turn, Zero leapt off of his dying bike and onto Axl's, which wasn't fairing much better. He heard a muffled crunch followed by a loud crash as the vehicle hit the ground and careened through an ancient guard rail.

"Zero!!" It was X that called out his name.

"I'm fine X! My Chaser died on me, and Axl's is doing the same!"

"What the heck is--!!"

X's voice was cut off by the sound of his own Ride Chaser failing and hitting the not so soft pavement below. Zero vaguely made out the shape of two figures jumping away from the machine before it hit a pot hole and flipped end over end, disappearing out of sight. Suddenly, the Ride Chaser bucked as its engine started to give out. Axl yelped as he struggled to keep the bike going straight.

"Zero, we've got to get off, now!"

"I know! Jump, and try to keep track of it! We may be able to salvage it and use it later!"

To punctuate his last sentence, Zero kicked off the back of Axl's Ride Chaser and waited for the younger hunter to do the same. He heard the bike crash onto the pavement as Axl's familiar outline hit the dirt and rolled, coming up in a kneeling position with his pistol drawn. Zero drew his own weapon, the famous Z-saber that had cut down literally thousands of Mavericks, and ignited its emerald green blade. The duo also activated their helmet gems, which put out a small amount of light to make travel in the fog easier and also allowed Zero to attract Axl to his position. Once the two hunters were back together, they turned back to search for X and Alia. They didn't have to search long, as X's own red gem attracted their attention.

"X, Alia, you two okay?"

X, who was currently checking himself over for injuries, nodded. "My boots are a little scuffed from the landing, but other than that we're good."

Alia huffed. "Speak for yourself. That's the first time I've ever had to abandon a moving vehicle that mysteriously quit for no apparent reason."

Axl shrugged his shoulders. "I think that's a first for all of us Alia, except for the jumping off a moving vehicle thing."

X sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Whatever. We need to get our bearings and analyze the situation."

"There's not much to analyze X." Zero gestured toward a badly weather road sign that was lying next to them. The garbled words on the sign were hard to understand, but Zero did the best he could. "I think it says a quarter mile till Silent Hill."

"Then let's get over there and be done with this foggy mess." Alia obviously didn't want to stay any longer than she had to.

"When you put it that way Alia, I have to agree." Zero smiled as he turned and started down the road again.

Time seemed to crawl by as they walked toward the town. If they had known what there were getting into, it would have still been possible to go back and leave the entire matter a mystery. Zero could have forgotten the letter, and went on hoping that his nightmares would stop eventually. X could have turned back as well. He had no real reason to be there. The letter had only mentioned his name once, while the rest was about his red armored friend. Axl wasn't even mentioned in the letter, yet he was still here to support his friends. Alia was a desk worker, not even built to be in combat. She was supposed to be behind a desk, telling others how to get though tough obstacles and saving lives by alerting them to incoming threats. Yet she was still here, trying to make X understand her feelings and support her friends Zero and Axl. If one backed out, the others would probably have stopped with the exception of Zero. Unfortunately, none of them knew what was going to happen, which ended any chance of them thinking about it and turning back. X was the first to spot a building in the distance.

"Hey, I think we made it."

Zero ignored X's comment and continued walking. He suddenly stopped when a strange scent filled the air, one that he hadn't smelled since he stumbled upon a killing ground where Mavericks had slaughtered a large group of humans and left their corpses to rot. The oppressive smell was suddenly all around the group, invading their senses, almost suffocating them.

"Oh my God…" Alia had covered her mouth and nose, trying to keep the odor from entering her body. She suddenly found it hard to stay awake and, after a few moments of struggling against her fatigue, fell to the ground unconscious. X and the others didn't notice, as they too had to fight to stay awake. Axl was the next to fall, who was shortly followed by X. As Zero started to tilt forward, he could have sworn he heard sirens in the distance…

* * *

Layer was a Spotter, born and bred for it by her manufacturer, and was proud to serve the Maverick Hunters. With Alia's absence, she had been assigned to take over her duty station as Spotter for all senior members of the 17th and 0th units, which included X and Zero. It wasn't as exciting as she heard it was, seeing as the two units were on vacation, but it was still an improvement over a rookie Hunter division. "It's been a day since we've had any contact from Hunters MegaMan X, Zero, and Axl. We've also received no word from Alia, sir."

Signas closed his eyes as he sipped a cup of coffee. Setting it down after quenching his 'thirst', he revealed his silver grey eyes once more and looked Layer straight in the eye. "Keep me updated on any changes. You may return to duty." The Hunter General gave a sharp salute that was returned instantly. As Layer returned to her station, Signas sank back into deep thought.

'Should I have let them go so easily? I know that X and Zero can handle themselves, but Axl is still green in some ways and Alia has no combat experience whatsoever… Was I wrong in sending her with them?'

Signas rubbed his face with his palms, trying to wipe away the uneasiness that had become more and more oppressive as the day went on. Unfortunately, his rubbing did nothing to lessen the foreboding feeling.

'It's probably nothing. Just a figment of my imagination is all. But still, I've got to remember that X and Zero aren't invincible, even though it may seem like it sometimes.'

* * *

Zero moaned as his system came online again. In his minds eye, he ran over a checklist of all his systems to make sure everything was in working order. When he finally got his sense of balance online, he noticed that he was lying flat on his back. He found this rather strange, because when he fell asleep he had fallen flat on his face. The next odd thing was the soft mattress below him, which most certainly wasn't the cold concrete he had fallen on. He opened his eyes and looked around.

'Yep. I've been moved. The question is where did they move me, and where is everyone else?'

The room was dark, but even without his helmet gem on he could see well enough to navigate. There was a small lamp next to him, which Zero immediately investigated. It was an artifact compared to every other lamp that he had ever seen which made figuring out how to turn it on a quest in itself. He finally figured that the knob near the round part turned it on, which blinded him momentarily when the bulb lit up. He whispered an "Ow" as he turned away, waiting for his overloaded sense of sight to return fully. When it finally did, he sat up and took in the sight of his location. Drab and half rotted wallpaper was peeling off the walls. There was a wooden table and a small reading chair just a few feet away from him, and both had seen much better days. There were only two doors in the room, one of which was partially open. Zero opened this door first, giving him a view of a bathroom that was overgrown with mold. The only real oddity in the rooms besides the extreme disrepair and ancient technology was the blood red words painted on the bathroom wall.

"**AYE**, the**R**e **I**s no hope for murderer**S**?"

The sentence did seem out of place, especially with the pirate dialect at the beginning. The more he looked at it, the more intrigued he was. Something was strange about the message…

'That's it! There's more than one capital letter in the sentence. A, Y, E, R, I, and S. Doesn't really spell anything I know of. Dang it! X was always better at word games like this.'

Giving up on the meaningless puzzle for now, he decided to move out of this room and explore the surrounding area. He opened the door slowly, looking around outside for anyone that might have been waiting for him. When all that greeted him was a dark hallway, he turned on his helmet gem for light and proceeded. Looking in both directions, he noticed that his room was one of four on his current level, and had a stairway leading down to his left. There was another stairway to his right, but it was covered in rubble and inaccessible. He tried the handles on each of the other rooms and discovered each of them was locked from the inside. With nothing else he could do in this area, he took the stairs down. According to the number on the wall, he was currently on the second story and on his way to the hotel's lobby. He stopped on the stairs when he heard heavy breathing from below. He drew his Z-saber as a precaution, but didn't ignite its blade. He quietly stepped down the rest of the stairs looking for any signs of a hostile in the area. When he finally reached the ground floor, he found Axl curled up into a ball, crying to himself. His armor was in sorry shape, and had a hole in one of his shoulders. A little coolant had leaked out, but his auto-repair systems had fixed the problem with ease. There was also some blood on his hands, which disturbed Zero slightly.

"Axl?!"

The young hunter instantly lifted his head up at the sound of Zero's voice. His eyes went wide at the sight of Zero, and he slowly began to crawl away from him.

"Axl? What's wrong?"

Axl brought his pistol up and pointed it at Zero. "Just… Just stay away from me Maverick…"

"Maverick…? What the heck are you talking about? Axl, put the gun down."

"No Zero. I know what you're trying to do. You want me to put my gun down so you can slice me up into little pieces! I won't fall for that, Maverick!"

"What are you talking about?! Axl, I'm not a Maverick!"

"Then why the hell did you attack me?!"

Axl didn't wait for an answer. He simply dashed out the nearest exit, leaving Zero to chase after him. The red hunter attempted to stop him, but Axl was long gone when he reached the exterior of the building. As it was, he could barely see the other side of the street, let alone where Axl had gone.

"Damn it all… What the heck was Axl talking about?"

Shaking his head, Zero started back into the lobby. As he looked around, he found blood splattered liberally across the walls, but there were no corpses to accompany the liquid. The strange thing about the blood was that it was fresh, not crusted over or evaporated with age, as if it had just been splattered on the wall not five minutes ago. The front desk seemed to be the only furniture still intact, as the nearby couches had been smashed by something. With his curiosity getting the best of him, Zero searched the desk for anything for value, and discovered a set of two keys and a map. He scanned the map, saving it in his memory for later use. The set of keys had two different symbols inscribed on them. One had an H inscribed on it, while the other had a L.

"I'd better hang on to these. Ya never know what they might open up." He opened up the small storage unit on his back and placed the item inside. Closing it up again and deciding to search for Axl now that he had a map, Zero made his way to the exit and marched into the fog laden wasteland. The street was deserted, something that Zero hadn't noticed before. A few cars were parked on the curb, but one of them was parked in a store window. "Talk about a poor parking job…"

The Crimson Hunter began walking east. Amazingly, he hadn't seen anything or anyone besides Axl since he entered the town. The oppressive scent of death still hung in the air, but Zero hardly noticed it. His mind was completely focused on seeing through the dense fog that surrounded him. His concentration paid off when he saw something move. It was down an alley, and seemed to be retreating from him. Could it have been someone? Quietly, Zero began to follow the shadow. He hesitated when he heard static start rumbling in his communicator, but ignored it and moved into the alley. The white noise increased as he went down the alley, giving Zero a foreboding feeling as he continued on the path. A little further down, he could see that the alleyway opened up a little bit, giving some more room for him to move around if need be.

'Good,' he thought, 'this stupid alley was giving me claustrophobia…'

Unfortunately, that's when his foot hit something on the ground. Looking down, he noticed a helmeted head lying on the ground without a body attached to it.

"Oh great. Disassembled bodies for everyone." Ignoring the head and steadily increasing static, he moved on. As he reached the opening the sound of metal being torn apart filled the air. Zero stopped and peered around the corner to see what was making the noise, but jumped back when the static spiked. With his Reploid heart beating double its normal pace, he slid back a few feet.

'Why am I so afraid? I've been on hundreds of missions that would have scared the crap out of lesser hunters, yet I can't even bring myself to look around a corner because of some static! Why the hell is my communicator on anyway?'

Tapping a hidden switch on his wrist, Zero tried to cut off the static. Unfortunately, it didn't work and the static was still present in his mind. Zero grimaced and tried again, but the static still remained. Finally, he gave up and tried to look around the corner again, ignoring the static. He suddenly wished he hadn't when he spotted a creature tearing into the chest of what looked to be a deceased Reploid. The creature, which Zero couldn't get a good look at through the fog, seemed to be licking up the coolant that spilled out as if it was drinking water from a bowl. To say that this disturbed Zero would be a massive understatement. He pulled back from the corner, but in his haste he rubbed his armor against the brick wall. He could have sworn he heard the creature growl in his general direction. He peered around the wall to find the beast had disappeared from his range of vision.

'Not good. Not good at all.'

That's when he noticed that the static had increased to double its previous amount. Quietly, he reached up to his saber's holster and grabbed the weapon. As he began backing away from the opening, he saw a silhouette walk through the fog like a panther circling its prey. Zero instantly brought his movements to a halt. The shadow appeared again, but this time it stepped out of the fog and into Zero's view. It was like a Zombie dog out of a horror film, only worse because of the extra head that had been surgically attached. The demonic creature let out a feral roar before charging at Zero with grim intentions. Zero silently activated his Z-saber and dashed at his opponent, bringing the energy weapon into an upward slash that was supposed to halve the creature. The Hell Hound, not anticipating a melee attack, was unprepared for Zero's speed and ran straight into the energy blade. To the Hunter's surprise, it passed right through the creature without damaging it in the slightest.

"What the hell!?"

Zero wheeled around to face the creature. It too turned around and prepared for another attack. With another howl, it leaped at his throat but instead caught part of his waist. The beast's powerful jaws began to tear away part of his protective armor plating, exposing the Reploids inner frame to open air. The searing pain of the bites caused Zero to drop his saber out of shock. He pulled away as the Hell Hound kept on him, trying to take snaps at him as best it could. The static was at a deafening pitch as the creature tried again for his face. In a fit of blind rage, Zero lashed out with a punch that impacted one of the creature's heads straight in the nose. The impact sent the beast rolling head over heels, but it was soon on the offensive again. Zero dashed forward and slammed his other fist into its left face, earning him a sickening crack as the face and spine were broken. The other head yelped in pain before trying to take its revenge. Trying to finish the fight, Zero brought his fist into an uppercut that connected with the Hell Hound's chest. The blow knocked it onto its back, which allowed Zero to attack its chest. Before the dog creature could right itself Zero had started his assault on its midsection, mercilessly slamming his powerful fist into the beast's ribcage.

Now would be a good time to explain a small fact about Reploids. While sometimes built to resemble humans in many ways, their pure mechanical strength allows even the weakest of human shaped Reploids to unleash almost a eighth of a ton of force against something. Zero definitely wasn't the weakest of Reploids, and in fact was in the top two in matters of strength and power. With this fact in mind, it isn't surprising that Zero's fists punctured all the way through his opponent's heaving chest and into the cement below. He quickly pulled his fist from the Hell Hounds body, revealing it to be covered with blood, coolant, and several fragments of bone. The beast was still breathing slightly, and the static still played in his head, though it had softened. Zero stood from his kneeling position and delivered a swift kick to the remaining head, which silenced the static. Zero staggered away from the destroyed creature, clutching his side as he moved toward the alleyways entrance. He was mentally exhausted from the fight, and wasn't even thinking as he stepped out into the street. He was so exhausted that he didn't see the curb and tripped over it. He saved himself from a face plant by kneeling on the cement. He stayed there for several minutes until he was able to think clearly.

"What… What the hell was that thing? And why didn't it die when I cut it with the Z-saber?! What the freaking hell is wrong with this town!?"

Alia had said that Silent hill was sealed off for over a hundred years, yet there was a body of a Reploid in an alleyway being eaten by a freak of nature. Why was it drinking the coolant anyway? And where did all the fresh blood come from? Where was X, Alia and Axl? Who was controlling all of this? Where was Iris?! Nothing made sense. No matter how long Zero thought about it, nothing fit together. For the first time since he recovered from Iris's death, Zero felt completely empty. A half hour later, Zero had recovered his sanity and began to move again. He needed to rest so his auto-repair systems could work their magic on his waist. He walked down the street, back toward the hotel. As he did, static began to fade into his communicator. The more he walked the louder it got. However, as he finally reached the hotel, a song began to play through the static. He could barely make out the words that accompanied the song.

"…Coming down, the world ...s over, and angels fall wit… you there. And I go ……. you get colder, or are you someone's prayer…"

The words Zero could understand through the static struck a cord within him. It reminded him of something from his past, though he couldn't point out what exactly. As he entered the hotel and climbed the stairs, the static faded to nothingness. He was relieved that the annoying sound was gone, but he knew that the static had something to do with the creatures. It had only started when he saw the shadow of the Hell Hound walking down the alleyway.

'Well, if there are more of those things around I'll know from the static.'

As he ascended the final set of steps, Zero noticed something hanging on the door to his room. As he approached it, his heart began to beat faster. Something inside of him screamed for Zero to look away, but he was hypnotized by the object. His white gloved hand clenched around the hat. Zero lifted the object from its resting place and held it up for closer inspection… It was a pink beret. The same pink beret that Iris had wore during the Repliforce incident.

"No… She… She can't be…"

Without wasting another second, Zero reached for the door's handle. He threw the door open and charged in.

"IRIS!?!"

He was yelling at an empty room. The lamp beside the bed was still on, casting its dim illumination on the walls. He shook his head in sorrow. Nothing in the town was right. It was as if the entire town was centered on torturing him... Slowly, he closed and locked the door behind him. Zero set himself down on the old mattress, causing significant amounts of dust to fly into the air. From Axl's accusations, to the battle in the alley, even finding the beret on the door, everything weighed heavily on Zero's mind. That weight quickly transferred to his eyelids, making them close over his sea blue eyes. It wasn't long until Zero was sound asleep, struggling against the nightmare once more.

As Zero began to toss and turn, a shadow stepped out of the bathroom. Quietly, it walked over to Zero's bedside and cupped his face in its hand. It murmured sweet nothings into Zero's ear, calming him substantially and allowing him to sleep in peace.

"My poor, poor Zero..." Her voice was soft and loving, and had a slight English accent which seemed out of place in a town full of so many nightmares. "Everything will be okay now that you're here with me…"

* * *

So, what did ja think? Review please! 


	3. All fall down

I do not own MegaMan X, Silent Hill, or any characters involved in said series. Same opening and closing as usual.

Response:

Warp Liga Obscura- What the…? Okay, that was rather odd… It's not good to go around saying that you know who people are when it might, and in this case isn't, true. And yes, I know that Alia is equipped to kill. But, as we shall see later in the chapter, that's pretty much useless in this hell.

Rioni Riishu- Thanks! I worked really hard on getting the first two chapters just the way I wanted them before I even signed up here. This third chapter took some doing however…

Ri2- It's okay if you don't know much about Silent Hill. I can't sat Iknow a spectacular amount myself...When I first got the idea for this story, it was planned to be a Resident Evil cross-over since it's a lot easier to understand without playing. However, Silent Hill'sscrew with your head factor made it an easyand logical chioce.As for what they've gotten themselves into, well… let's just say I'm an evil little b$#!&$#, okay?

Jade eye's- Well, here's your update! Thanks. Having people tell me that I've captured the feel of what I'm trying to write is very encouraging, seeing as I haven't even played the game…

Aoi-Chan14- Well, you should have got my E-mail by now. Hope that answered your questions, and once again, thanks for being my very first reviewer!

* * *

Ch_a_**P**teR **tH_r_**e_e_: _All fall down_

X rolled over, trying to remain asleep. Unfortunately, he rolled into a pool of ice cold water that shocked him awake.

"Arrg! Why me? I hate cold showers in the morning! …wait. Where am I?"

Slowly, the blue clad Reploid stood up and tried to take in his surroundings. Fog was the first thing that registered in his mind, but soon after he made out the form of Zero's thrashed Ride Chaser buried up to its driver's seat in a Jeep.

"Wow… That's old. I guess I'm still in Silent Hill."

While uncommon in this day and age, Jeeps were sometimes used in archeological digs to carry equipment and to pull stuff when Reploids were not available. It also happened to be one of the first vehicles X saw after he awoke in Dr. Cain's lab, so he had a cursory familiarity with it. Ignoring the vehicles turned modern art for now, X turned about to look for his friends. When none appeared after he called their names, he looked around for any familiar landmarks. Unfortunately, none appeared except for the ominous outline of Silent Hill's rooftops. Deciding that speed wasn't really necessary, X started toward Silent Hill at the pace of a light jog. Soon enough, the Reploid found cement under his feet once more. X slowed down as he made his way into the town. The first building he passed was a convince store, and more buildings followed after it. He was a good way into the town when he heard something metallic strike the pavement in an alleyway to his right.

"Hello?" X looked into the dark passage, but nothing was there except for the vision obscuring fog. Shrugging his shoulders, he started to move on when he heard the noise again. This time it was louder, as if it didn't want X to leave without investigating it. X hesitantly turned back to the alley and stared into it. "This does not bode well…"

Common sense told X that it was a trap, and that twenty Mavericks were probably laying in wait some distance down the brick corridor. Realizing that twenty was a small number compared to the many hundreds he fought on a normal mission, X's ego slapped his common sense once or twice as he moved into the alley. His blood red helmet gem gave him enough light to maneuver through the dark and fog laden pathway, but it didn't reveal the presence of a single Maverick.

"That's weird… There's nothing down here! Huh…" X shook his head. He assumed the noise was probably just a glitch in his systems. "Gotta have Life Saver check that out…"

Unfortunately, the sound wasn't just a glitch. This time, the sound was extremely close, and ten times louder than before. X covered his 'ears' for a second to muffle the noise, but it wasn't very effective. He charged his X-buster for safety's sake before moving further into the alley. As he walked, he could have sworn he heard a dripping sound from up ahead… A feeling of dread suddenly stopped him. X was suddenly and unexplainably afraid to go further. Did he really want to find out what was down there? It was like a suspenseful mystery play, and X was the lead actor who had forgotten to study his script. The noise's repetition had ceased for some reason, leaving only the dripping sound to drive him insane. Building his courage, the Blue Bomber boldly stepped forward once, twice, three times before he stopped once more. This time however, it wasn't because of his gut feeling. It was because of the twisted art that had appeared down the alleyway. He could barely make out the shape of a body hanging in mid-air, impaled on several poles.

"Dear God…!"

The impulse to help whoever it was suddenly overtook any feeling of dread that might have held him back. X activated his EAS in a mad attempt to get there faster, even though he knew it was probably too late to help. Details slowly filtered out of the fog, revealing the gruesome sight. A Reploid body had been impaled by nine spears, and had been planted into the hard cement like a deranged trophy of sorts. The maddening dripping noise was apparently the coolant running from all of the punctures and falling to the ground, which had created a good sized pool. What disturbed X more than the sheer cruelty of the Reploid's death was the fact that said Reploid looked identical to X himself.

"What the…! That's…?!"

The terrible smell of rotting human flesh filled the air once more. His communicator suddenly switched on, allowing a loud shriek of static to pierce the air. X started to back away from his own death, only to run into it once again. When he felt something bump into him from behind, X spun around to face it. Behind him stood a tall figure with blood stained clothes and a pyramid shaped mask covering his head. Or was it his head? X didn't really want to know. Right now, all he wanted was to get away from it, and fast. He jumped away from it in an attempt to escape, but he noticed too late that it had a spear in its left hand. While X was still in mid-air, the person/creature threw the spear at him with such strength that it pierced his abdomen and pinned him against a brick wall. He cried out in pain when his system registered the damage incurred by both the spear and the impact, but still managed to keep him self under control. X wrapped his hands around the shaft of the spear and pulled with all of his might, but to no avail. Suddenly, he could hear footsteps approaching, which to his damaged systems sounded like metal being dragged across the pavement. X stopped struggling and looked at his attacker, and realized that the Pyramid Head had another weapon. Dragging behind him was a huge knife of sorts that looked like it would end X's suffering rather quickly if he didn't stop it. Moving on instinct, X raised his arm and quickly formed it into his X-buster. With a cry, he loosed the fully charged blast at Pyramid Head's chest. Unfortunately, it passed right through its upper body without leaving so much as a scorch mark. Shocked by this turn of events, X simply stared in shock as Pyramid Head brought his knife down upon his head…

…Only moments later to wake up in an old, crumbling diner.

"Wha…!? What the hell?"

Disturbed greatly by this turn of events, X sat up in his booth and took a good look at his body. To his surprise and obvious joy, there wasn't a single hole in his stomach or face. But that still left a few unanswered questions in his mind…

"What the heck just happened to me?"

Unfortunately, the run down restaurant wasn't in the mood to answer him. Sighing, X slid out of his booth and stood up. His blue armored boots crushed some broken glass as he did so, causing him to cringe slightly. As he looked for the source of the broken glass, he found that the windows of the diner had been smashed in by something. He had a feeling that whatever it was, he really didn't want to meet it. Deciding that standing around and admiring the damage wasn't going to help him find Zero and the others, X made his way to the front door and pushed it open. He was immediately surrounded by fog again.

"Stupid weather…"

He stepped out into the fog and tried to find some sign of where he was. The sign above the restaurant read "Café 5". There was more, but the rest had been broken off and mangled beyond recognition. Starting a map in his head, X placed a mark for the café in the middle.

"Well, at least I know where I am… Now I've got to find the others."

Deciding to head south, X began walking down the street. It was eerily silent except for the constant noise of X's boots striking the pavement. The air was completely still, which made X nervous. After a minute of walking, X came to an intersection of "Bachman Road" and "Matheson Street". There was another restaurant was to his left, going by the name of Queen Burger. He could have sworn he heard something moving on its roof, but X didn't stick around long enough to see what it was. He moved further down the street in an attempt to find the end of it. Another minute of walking earned him another intersection. This time it was "Bachman Road" and "Bloch Street". Across the pavement was a rather old looking building with a cross atop it.

"Heh! I'm in need of a little help down here. Maybe I'd better go inside…"

X started to cross the street when his communicator started playing static. In the back of his mind, he remembered the burst of static from his dream. Knowing that Pyramid Head had appeared soon after the static, X readied his buster. Someone, no, some Thing wandered out of the fog from X's right. Immediately he spun to face the creature, then wished he hadn't. It looked similar to a human in general shape, but that's where the similarities ended. It looked like a deranged scarecrow without the sticks to hold it up. A melted face with a single black eye rested below its hat, giving its approach an even more chilling effect. It seemed intent on getting closer to X, and he had a feeling that it didn't like him too well. Using his most official voice possible, X tried to reason with the creature.

"Halt! Don't move or I'll shoot!"

The Scarecrow didn't listen. Its pace picked up slightly instead, leaving X no choice but to fire. A bolt of energy was released from his buster, careening towards the Scarecrow's chest. Like with Pyramid Head, it passed right through its body without any effect. Fortunately for X, the Scarecrow wouldn't have the chance to hurt him. X's dash system was in fine working order, allowing him to easily escape his nightmarish pursuer. He headed east, across a bridge and into another part of the town. He didn't bother to take in the sights as he ran, as there could be time for that later.

'Crap… My buster has no effect on these things! And if that dream was right I can't hurt them but they can hurt me! What am I supposed to do, beat them into the ground with my bear fists?'

As X reached the other side of the bridge, he noticed a building appearing out of the fog with the word "Police" inscribed above it. The blue bomber smiled when he noticed one of the windows adorning the station had been broken, allowing him access to the buildings inside. The static had faded by now, which made X feel a bit better about slowing down. He stopped just before the window and checked over his shoulder. A shadow could be seen in the fog across the bridge, but it was still quite a ways off. Quietly, he pulled himself into the darkened police station. The red light his gem let off spilled over the room, illuminating most of the area. To his surprise, there was someone in the room with him. And that someone was crying softly into her knees.

"Alia…? Is that you Alia?!"

Alia didn't answer, and instead continued to cry. From the looks of it, her headset had been broken, and several cuts had been made in her armor. Her normally blonde hair had streaks and splotches of blood in it, while it appeared that the back of her armor was covered in the red substance. Kneeling down in front of her, X reach out and touched her shoulder lightly.

"Alia…"

Slowly, Alia lifted her head. Her light blue eyes seemed empty, and the water marks on her synthetic flesh let X know that she had been crying for quite some time.

"X? …I-is it really you?"

"Yup. I'm here Alia."

She smiled slightly and started crying again. Quickly, she moved out of her fetal position and pulled X into a hug, burying her face into his shoulder as she cried. X was a little uncomfortable at first, but eventually settled into the embrace. Slowly, he began rubbing her back and whispering into her ear, a technique he had witnessed several people use to calm down those who were in shock after Maverick attacks. Amazingly, it also worked on most Reploids as well as humans. After a few minutes had passed, Alia's crying had subsided.

"Alia, what happened? I remember all of us walking together outside of Silent Hill, and then I went offline for a little while…"

The Spotter broke her embrace with X slightly. Alia wiped away her tears as she spoke.

"Well, I woke up just outside a Church a little to the west of here. I walked around for a little bit, but then I saw something moving around in the fog… It… it looked like Zero, and it had a green saber like Zero does… X, he attacked me! I never even got to see his face because of the fog, but he fought just like Zero did! I-I never even got a chance to hit back! He… He just started beating me and cutting me until I couldn't struggle, and then he left me for dead! X, I… I was so afraid that Zero was going to come back and kill me…"

Alia's tears had returned in full force. She pulled herself into the hug once more, seeking protection in the blue hunter's arms. It was like he was suddenly her safety blanket, and there was no way she would ever let go.

"Alia, something is wrong with this town. I don't know what exactly, but… are you sure it was Zero?"

"I'm sure X! He tried to kill me! Don't you believe me…?"

X sighed. Zero wasn't one to attack someone or something at random. Nor was he a Maverick in any sense of the word… Why would he have attacked Alia? "I believe you Alia, but… Zero isn't the kind of person who would do that. Something must have happened to him…"

"X, please… You've got to stop him! If he comes after me again, I…"

"It's okay Alia. If anyone tries to hurt you, I'll be there."

Alia's eyes went wide at his statement. "X? D-do you really mean that…?"

He nodded. "Yeah Alia. I won't let anything in this town hurt you."

"Thank-you X…"

Slowly, she released him from the hug. Alia used her blood stained hands to rub away the new tears from her eyes, which caused some red to mingle with the tears. Amidst the dark and bloody police offices, Alia smiled. Knowing that the police would most likely have firearms, X stood and looked around the room for anything of use. There wasn't anything of value in his immediate view, however tugging on a few desk drawers caused something to rattle. Smirking slightly, he gripped the drawer and yanked it out of the desk. His prize was a twin set of nine millimeter pistols with three clips of ammo.

"Jackpot." X picked up a weapon and began to familiarize himself with it. Sliding a clip into the firearm and setting the other two on the table, he turned to Alia. "Well, we aren't going to accomplish anything by sitting around here. We need to explore the town, no matter what's out there."

"But X, what about Zero…?"

X frowned. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it… Alia, I'll understand if you want to stay here, but I've got a lot of ground to cover if I want to find out what's going on here."

"I know X. I'll come with you. I can't feel safe if there's no one else here…"

"Okay then." Leading the way, X jumped out of the window. Almost immediately his communicator started playing static. He held up his hand to stop Alia from following him. "Something's close," he whispered, "stay there until I get back, okay?"

"X…" Alia's voice was filled with worry, but she nodded anyway and stayed inside the police station.

Leveling the pistol in front of him, X started looking around for whatever was causing the static. He had wandered over to the end of the bridge before he heard the sound of squishy footsteps. Slowly, a hulking form wandered out of the fog. Its chest was rounded and fat, with a single blood-shot eye set in its 'face'. Massive arms and legs accompanied the rounded chest, but even with all this it still wasn't very tall. Grimacing, X fired a shot at the hunchback's face. The bullet struck below the creature's eye, causing it to slow slightly. As X lowered his gun to inspect his handiwork, he noticed a stream of fluid running from the hunchback's face and smiled guiltily.

"If it bleeds, it must thereforedie in some fasion."

Raising his weapon again, he fired another shot at its eye. The bullet punched through the weak point, causing the creature to grasp at its face in agony before falling over. The static still continued to fill X's ear, so he gave it another bullet for good measure. The static finally faded. The blue hunter, now confident in his ability to protect Alia, walked back to the police station. On his way there, something crunched under his foot. Knowing that cement didn't normally crunch under his boots, X looked down and found a small piece of a map. Picking it up, he immediately recognized the intersection of Blotch Street and Bachman. This map went further south however, and revealed Bradbury Street and one Midwich Elementary School to the east. The school was circled in red, with the words "Time to go to school, X" next to it.

"Guess someone wants me to learn something… Better get Alia before I head over there."

After copying the map to his hard drive, X dropped the crumpled piece of paper and began his short walk to the police station. Hopefully, Alia wouldn't have any misgivings about going to the school…

* * *

Well, here's chapter number three. Now the long gap between when I post this chapter and the next… Since I'm still a student, I don't have much time to write, but I will do my best to keep this going. 


	4. Flower in bloom

I'm gonna cry. I had to put this chapter up three times to make it work right...Here's another semi-dark chapter of **Breaking the Fall**. Thank-you to all of you who left a review. Here's the response.

Response:

Jade eye's: Ah, Silent Hill 1. Yeah, some events are from it, but others are from two, three, and four. No pressure? You mean I can act like I'm going to update every single day and not do it? Sweet! (I'm joking. I'll try to be faster.)

Ri2: Yet another mystery of Silent Hill. Still, it adds to the wierd factor, so I went with it.

Shadowneko003: Um... I'm sure you do like seeing X go to school ...

Toni da Big-Eared Cat: Thanks. And as for killing me... Well, that's fine. I can die as soon as I'm immortal.

Rioni Riishu: Indeed, head screwage is fun. As for the games, I've tried to get ahold of them since the last chapter, but no one has them. Not even EB Games, which supposedly has everything. Oh well... And thanks for being patient with me. Not many are.

Black Metalmark: Alia is equipped to fight, but she's not trained. Besides, friendly fire probably wouldn't look good on her records. And though Axl may be hurt and not involved in this chapter, he'll be back eventually. And do boss fights count as plot advancement?

Shenka: Don't worry 'bout Axl. He's a sturdy little reploid. See? If I yank on his arms like this... (cracking noise) Oh crap... Um, you didn't see that.

MysticMaiden 18: Well, I'm continuing it. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

CH_a_**P**teR **_F_**ou**r**: _Flower in bloom…_

The sea was crashing against the beach, sending small sprays of mist into the air. Zero could feel her resting against his shoulder, sighing contentedly as their hands intertwined. Carelessly, Zero let his Z-saber drop from his hand as Iris caressed it with her own. Blushing slightly, Zero turned to her and laid a soft kiss on her head. She too blushed, lifting her head to see his eyes. He smiled as they broke their hand's embrace, only to bring their lips closer together in a different, but much more enjoyable embrace…

Opening his eyes, Zero looked around. He wasn't in the hotel room anymore. Instead, he was in some kind of dojo. A bloody dojo, but a dojo none the less.

"This is getting old really fast…" Groaning slightly, Zero lifted himself from the floor. Looking around again, he noticed a Katana sitting on the floor before a sword rack, a wall scroll of a samurai in blue hanging just above it. The Katana itself was covered in blood and missing its sheath, obviously dropped by its owner before he or she died. A trail of blood led out of the room and into the rest of the house. Zero could only guess as to what happened, and all the idea's that came to mind were unpleasant at best. The lesser half of the Daisho set was still on the rack, obviously forgotten in the heat of battle. "Well, there's no sense in letting a good weapon go to waste. Hell, maybe it'll actually work."

Grabbing the sword from the floor, Zero made his way toward the exit. As he passed through it however, he heard a voice speaking to him from behind. It was harsh in tone, and sounded as if whoever was speaking had a throat of sandpaper. He couldn't quite make out what it was saying until he turned back to the room…

"…Honor me…"

Shuddering slightly, Zero bowed to the room. "Forgive me, fallen warrior, for taking your sword. I have no choice in my actions. I will return this sword when my deed is finished."

Feeling that the spirit was pacified for the moment, Zero quickly found his way out of the house. Dealing with spirits of the dead wasn't really his forte. As he stepped out the back of the house, which he had accidentally assumed was the front, he found himself in an alleyway. Sighing at the memory of his previous experience, Zero headed south with the Katana held at the ready. He wasn't sure if the sword would even work, but it was better than trying to fight with his fists. True, he felt that he could probably kill anything this town had to throw at him with his bare hands, but having a sword in his grip was a more appealing idea. Amazingly, nothing attacked him as he walked down and out of the alleyway. He stepped out onto the street, surveying the general area he was in before heading east. The crimson warrior was making quick progress in his exploration until he reached an intersection. Said intersection had fallen into nothingness.

"Okay, what the hell is this? Nightmare creatures, Iris's hat, and now holes in the earth…? Damn. This had all better be a dream that I'm going to wake up from eventually."

Pushing aside all of the possibilities that presented themselves to Zero as he stared at the abyss, he quickly turned from it and proceeded in the opposite direction. Holes with a visible bottom were one thing, but Zero had past experience with bottomless pits. Experience that he wished never to gain more of. As Zero continued west, he came upon a T intersection that lead north and south.

"Alright Zero, make a choice. North or south? North or south…"

Before he could come to a decision however, a small photograph flew past him on a non-existent wind. Catching it in his hand and observing the photograph, he found that it was a picture of 'Death' holding his scythe, a large spider sitting on the unholy weapon. The blond haired hunter furrowed his brow and turned it over, finding an inscription on it.

"Scythe Spider. He stalks the street. Rest in peace. Okay… That makes me feel a whole lot safer." Rolling his eyes, Zero dropped the picture and decided to head north. As he began walking again, something shot past his face and stuck into the cement before him. He instantly traced where the object had come from, which happened to be a nearby rooftop. Upon said rooftop was a black armored figure. One which Zero had been forced to see over and over again, mercilessly tearing apart the one he loved.

"It's you!"

The Shadow Zero smiled, its blood red eyes seeming to laugh at him. Zero's body melted into a defensive stance as he spoke, Katana positioned directly in front of him.

"Where's Iris! I know that you have her!"

Silence. Shadow Zero simply flipped an index card at Zero's foot before leaping off over the rooftops. Dropping his stance, Zero retrieved the card from the ground and read it.

"I may have her, but you won't live much longer? The spider isn't imprisoned anymore?"

As if to answer Zero's impending flood of questions, a loud scraping noise echoed from further down the street. Whirling around, he found himself looking at Iris, minus her beret.

"Iris! Is… Is it really you?"

"Zero… RUN!"

That was all she was able to say before a large blade fell from the sky and bisected her, which caused her body to explode. Zero traced the blade to its origin and found that it merged with something living. He couldn't really tell through the fog, but it looked like a spider…

**Scythe Spider: Master of Sorrow, the first seal. **(Cue the boss music, folks.)

"YOU… just ruined ANY shred of happiness that I could have found here!"

The Scythe Spider didn't care about Zero's taunts. It merely swept away Iris's remains with one of its scythes and prepared to attack him. The beast was big, somewhere around the size of a Crab Ride Armor (X7). The crimson warrior didn't wait for an invitation and dashed forward, Katana at the ready. The Scythe Spider countered his charge and swiped at him with one of its arm-scythes, but Zero merely smirked as he jumped on the creature's limb, using it as a springboard to the creature's head. A mighty slash earned Zero a guttural roar from the beast as his blade cut through several of its eyes. It thrashed about, forcing Zero to beat a hasty retreat as it chased after him. After getting a good distance ahead, he turned back to face the monster once more.

"That was for Iris, you bastard!"

Scythe Spider screeched as it attacked again, trying for a pincer move with both of its frontal appendages. Ducking below the attack, Zero dashed forward and brought his blade into a rising slash. It cut through Scythe Spider's head a little bit more, but the favor was instantly repaid as it clamped down on Zero's mid-section with its jaw. Yelling out in both pain and rage, Zero jammed his blade into Scythe Spider's head. The wound was not fatal unfortunately. It did cause the beast to drop him however, allowing Zero to retreat once more. Scythe Spider gave chase again, slamming its scythe equipped limbs into the ground in a mad attempt to draw blood.

Ignoring everything in front of him, Zero looked over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of his pursuer. From what he could tell, the creature had lost four of its eyes in his first strike, a split lip from his second blow, but two more eyes had been destroyed in his third attack. Grinning madly, Zero turned again and charged at Scythe Spider in an attempt to finish the fight. Unfortunately, he didn't notice the beast's incoming right hook. With a loud crash, the crimson hero smashed through a shop window and into the counter behind it, dropping his Katana in the process. Though disoriented, he managed to scramble over the remains of the counter as the spider tried to slash at him again, crushing the center of the counter as it did so.

"That… was way too close…" He sat there for a moment, catching his breath and calming himself down. Fighting in a fit of rage like he had been would only make his abilities suffer. A point that had been driven home rather abruptly. As he peaked over the broken counter, he found the Scythe Spider staring into the shop with its remaining two eyes. "Great, I'm trapped… Wait a second…"

Sitting on the floor, right next to him in plain view was a shotgun shell. And with shotgun shells nearby, one could only guess that a shotgun would follow close behind. Digging into the rubble of the counter, Zero discovered the weapon and a case of shells.

"Hm. Old School, but it will do in a pinch." Smiling, he began loading five shells into the weapon. "Kinda like a plasma rifle, now that I think about it."

Putting the weapon to his shoulder, Zero spun into a kneeling position facing the beast and took aim before firing off two blasts. He smiled with grim satisfaction as the spread shots tore through its face, ripping through its remaining eyes and blinding the creature. In a fit of rage, the creature began slashing wildly at him, forcing Zero to dive behind his cover again. Shoving two more shells into the breach, the hunter waited for the beast to calm down again. When it finally did, he charged forward and shot it in the face until he had spent three of his rounds. It screeched in pain as the spread cut through its body, hitting several key areas and crippling the monster. Dropping the shotgun and grabbing his fallen Katana, Zero finished the creature with a stab to its brain, sending blood spraying into the air as it broke through exoskeleton. Breathing hard in an attempt to cool his systems, Zero pulled his blade out of his fallen foe and picked up his shotgun. Looking back at the dead spider, he shook his head before having a seat and lying against the broken counter.

"Eat that, you Bastard. Rot in hell for… killing Iris … again…"

* * *

Exhausted and damaged once more, Zero allowed himself to drift into a blissful slumber. As his systems began to repair themselves, footsteps echoed outside of the holed shop. Someone was coming, and with her came the thing that Zero dreaded the most … his Past.

With his Pistol fully loaded once more, X began leading Alia over the bridge. So far, nothing had attacked the blue and pink duo since they had left the police station, but that didn't mean that they would be lucky enough to make it though the entire town without being attacked.

"X, are you sure? I mean, we've only got two guns, and if the school is a trap that Zero set up…"

Furrowing his brow, X turned to her. "Alia, I'm sure Zero's not behind this. I mean, Sigma has made a Zero clone once before. Hell, I almost had to fight it, and this could be the same thing! When we find Zero and Axl, then we'll know what really happened. And… if worst comes to worst, I'll stop him, alright?"

"X…"

From that point on, Alia was silent as they continued walking through town. X began to regret the tone he had used with her, but he rationalized it by chalking it up to emotional stress. Having a dream about being killed could mess you up for a good while, especially when the nightmare was still going.

"Let's see, we're coming up on Blotch and Levin… After that, we just have to get to Midwich Street and head south… What the?"

Indeed, like Zero had found before him, there were holes in the town. Immediately, X took a few steps back from the hole for more breathing room, though he and Alia had been a good distance from it when they noticed it.

"Alia, did I ever tell you that I hate bottomless pits?"

The spotter nodded. "Yeah, about two days after I was assigned to the 17th."

"Good. Then you know exactly why I want to find an alternate route. Come on, let's start backtracking."

Alia shivered slightly. The town itself was haunted. Why did they even need to stay? Axl could take care of him self, and Zero… As their footsteps echoed throughout the seemingly abandoned town, Alia found herself wanting to escape more with every moment.

"X, why don't we leave? This place… It just gives me the creeps… I knew that something really disturbing was happening in this town, but…"

"If we leave now, we'll never know what happened."

Alia stopped. "W-what…?"

"Alia, I don't know if you can understand me when I say this, but something happened to this town. I know there were people here once, people who lived a normal life, just going about their business every day. Now they're all dead. Every single one of them died, and we don't know why. Even though it…" X hesitated, collecting himself, "Even though it happened a long time ago, I won't let what happened here go unpunished. Someone is responsible for both the letter to Zero and for all of this, and I need to find out who it is. No matter how disturbing this place is… Now, come on, we need to keep moving if we want to get out alive."

­X turned, walking back toward the police station as Alia followed meekly. Abruptly, Alia stopped in mid step as something stepped out of the Shadows. A squeal of static in both of their radios announced the shambling mass of flesh which dragged an oversized fist into the light. It hesitated before lifting it and savagely clubbing X in the back. Rolling with the almost unexpected blow, the blue bomber hit the ground in a semi-controlled spin. It was only a second until he was on his feet once more, the pistol finding the target and firing twice. Luckily, Alia had been so startled by the creature's sudden appearance that she had fallen back, over the curb and into the street, away from X's line of fire. The bullets struck the creature high, both hitting an artery in its neck and leaving a bloody aftermath as the creature retreated. Standing, X turned on his helmet lamp and focused on where the monster had retreated to, finding the opening to an alley instead of the wounded beast. Turning away, X found Alia still lying in the street, holding her back in pain. Looking her over, she seemed fine, but he wasn't about to make that assumption.

"Alia, you okay?" He kneeled next to her, looking around to make sure the creature couldn't get the drop on him again.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine X. Are you okay?" She reached up, asking him to help her up. Generously, he didn't refuse her and pulled her upright.

"A little scratched, and possibly a dent in my shoulder, but nothing serious. I just hope you aren't afraid of the dark Alia."

"Huh? Just a little. Why?"

X pointed at the alley. "Because unless I make sure that Thing is dead, it might come after us again. Just stay behind me and you'll be fine, okay?"

"…Okay…"

Alia did as she was instructed, practically smashing herself against X's back. Leveling the pistol in front of him, X stepped into the fog shrouded Alley. His headlamp barely pierced the dark, but it was enough to spot a vaguely human shape shuffling toward the opposite end of the alley. He took aim, but before he could squeeze the trigger a giant knife slashed through the creature, bisecting it and splattering blood across the ground and walls. Behind him, Alia gasped and choked on a scream, holding it in as best she could. The static in their radios was increasing, rising to a level that X had only heard once, in the dream-like moments before waking up in the diner. The scraping noises and the heavy footsteps that echoed down the alleyway…

'…It's that Pyramid Head thing … The one from before…'

It was then that something came alive in X. At the time, he couldn't explain it, but some part of him just wanted to run away, leave everything and just go. Anywhere but here had to be a better place. He would have rather fought Sigma eight times in a row than take another step forward. He was afraid for one of the first times in his long life, and it didn't feel good. But it didn't matter. X knew he had to take that next step. And the one after that. And many more, if the future would let him. So that's just what he did. Shoving all of his thoughts aside, X began walking, following the noise of death that had once consumed him. Alia was gripping his shoulder now, and he could tell that she was shaking, but it didn't matter. He wouldn't stop.

"…X…" She was afraid, but he already knew she would be.

'One foot in front of the other.'

"…X…!" It seemed a little cold not answering her, but his concentration was only on moving.

'Just keep moving.'

"X!" But her voice broke that concentration. He still took another step however.

"…Alia. I've got to kill that thing." And another. "It killed me once before," They were past the corpse, stepping out onto the street. "And I won't let it happen again."

The radio became fainter. The scraping noise had stopped. They were out of the Alley, and if X's head mapping was correct, they were only a block and a half away from the School. Both he and Alia breathed a sigh of relief, turning to eachother and, sadly, laughing uneasily at eachother. "…Well, that was fun."

"…Yeah… Hey X? What did you mean when you said that it had killed you before…?"

"Oh. That. …Um, I didn't tell you this before, but I had a dream, or something like one, where that thing killed me because my buster didn't work on it. It was rather freaky…"

Alia paused, looking to the side. "…Oh… I'm… Sorry."

The blue bomber sighed, turning in the direction of the school. "It's okay Alia. It was just a dream, after all. And I'm sure we can kill it. Nothing is invincible, after all."

She smiled, reassured for the time being. But then, something dawned on her. "But … your not invincible either, X … so please, be careful…"

He smiled as they began walking again. "I will. After all, I wouldn't want to leave you alone. I just hope we can make it out together."

"Yeah…" She smiled, cheeks going a tinge of pink. On a childish impulse, Alia hugged him from behind. "X, thank-you for protecting me…"

"Not a problem, Alia. Besides, I--!" Static. The hunter raised his weapon, searching the area for an enemy. There was a scraping noise. Heavy footsteps. Soon enough Pyramid Head was clearly visible in the fog, knife dragging behind him.

**Pyramid Head; Master of Fear, the second seal.**

X aimed and fired, striking him in the chest with the nine millimeter bullet. There was a small flash of blood, but Pyramid Head didn't seem phased by the impact in the least. Raising his aim, X fired at the metal faceplate that the creature wore, striking it three times with no visible effect. Alia too joined in, trying to take the monstrosity out at the kneecaps. Her aim was terrible though, as she didn't have an auto-targeting program. Once again, cost cutting at it's finest prevented her from having the software. She made a mental note to get upgraded if they survived this, finally getting used to the weapon and hitting her target. Amazingly, it seemed to almost knock him off balance.

"Good shot." X had noticed the hit and adjusted his aim. Firing two shots that head dead center in the kneecaps, he grimaced as Pyramid Head stumbled a bit but failed to fall down. Knowing that they would eventually run out of ammunition, X searched around for something, anything to use in close combat. There was a lead pipe in the gutter… 'That's rather convenient… but I'd better make use of it anyway.'

There was a sudden clicking noise from Alia. One that the blue bomber didn't like in the least. "X, I'm out of bullets!"

"Here, it's the last clip, so make it count! Just try to knock his knees out!" He shoved the clip in her hands and fired the last round in his own, hitting the monster in the knife-wielding arm's shoulder.

"What about you?"

He grimaced. "Once you're out of ammo, I'll try grappling with it!"

"WHAT!"

X didn't have time for talk though, as Pyramid Head was dangerously close. He ran and grabbed the pipe, taking it up and getting into an attack position while Alia unloaded her clip into Pyramid Head's knees. Even with the constant hits however, the freak refused to fall down and kept walking. Once again, X heard a clicking noise as Alia's pistol ran out of bullets. Pyramid Head wound up, getting ready to swing his giant knife. His aim was centered on Alia.

"Alia, run!" Without a second thought, X dashed at the bloody figure and smashed his pipe into his kneecaps. This time, there was a distinct crack as something broke. The left leg buckled, a moaning sound penetrating the metal headpiece as it sank down. It's arms were still in perfect shape with the exception of the bullet hole in it's right shoulder, and it's left quickly smashed into X's face. The impact sent the blue hunter against a storefront, but didn't have enough force to send him through the pillar that stood in his way.

"X!"

His vision blurred for a second, systems quickly resetting themselves after the hit to his face. When they returned to normal, he found Alia rushing toward him, and Pyramid Head about to bring his knife down on her head.

"ALIA!"

She noticed too late, screaming as the blade dropped. There were sparks as steel hit steel…

* * *

I hate having a job. It saps all my free time. Thankfully, school starts Monday, and since it's my senior year and I have a ton of easy classes, I should have some free time again. Anyway, here's chapter four. Sorry it's a cliffhanger, but it was unavoidable.


End file.
